


The Undead Endurance Handbook

by eerian_sadow



Series: zombiefest pieces [4]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Community: zombi_fic_ation, Gen, Mild Gore, Zombies, Zombification, zombiefest, zombiefest bonus round 2013
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-14
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 09:09:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1003598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nine, Rose and Jack get trapped in another reality show on the Game station.  One full of undead participants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Undead Endurance Handbook

**Author's Note:**

> written for the October 2013 Bonus Round of Zombiefest. (zombie_fic_action at live journal)
> 
> prompt: 121. Doctor Who -- Ninth Doctor, Rose, Jack Harkness -- The three are trapped in a zombie reality show on the Game Station.

_Day 1_

Jack woke up with a single, intensely bright light glaring down at him. It was probably just a cheap bulb, but judging by the artificially blue "sky" around it, it was probably supposed to be a sun. A moment later, an equally fake cloud floated by, and he knew something was not right.

Not that anything had been quite right since the homicidal fashion robots had tried to take his head off.

"This is getting old already." He sat up and looked around. He was on a street, surrounded by run down buildings and abandoned cars. "Now where am I?"

"You mean you do not know?"

The captain nearly jumped out of his skin as the unfamiliar voice broke the silence of the street. He turned and glared at a very dirty dark-skinned human--well, probably human judging solely by looks--man who was leaning through a broken out window. "If I knew, I wouldn't have asked, would I?"

"I suppose not." The man looked up and down the street and then beckoned Jack closer. "Come. Get inside before they smell you."

"Before what smells me?"

The stranger gave him a serious look. "The zombies."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I'm on what?" Rose blinked at the couple who had who had picked her up and carried her off the street. They were filthy and smelled like they hadn't bathed in a week or more, but they had seemed sane until this moment.

"You're on The Undead Endurance Handbook." Molly sighed as if she were thick. "Maybe you saw the first season? Back before the whole intellectual property war, when they were still calling it The Zombie Survival Guide."

She hadn't, obviously, but she did remember seeing a book by that name in the shops a while back. "That sounds familiar. I'm afraid I don't remember how it goes, though."

"That's the easy part." Sam grinned at her. "You just have to outlast the zombies for thirty days. Doesn't matter how, just stay alive any way you can."

"So, I'm stuck here. For thirty days, with zombies." Rose blinked again. 

"Yep!" Molly grinned. "We've been here ten now. Looks like they decided to spice up this season, adding in new faces after a few days."

"Or to see if they could run it longer." Sam frowned. "Thirty days isn't much for a reality show anymore. Not after Big Brother 361 lasted a whole year."

"Maybe it's a bit of both?" The blond offered. Sam had the look of a man about to go on a rant, and really she had other things to worry about. Like zombies. And finding the Doctor and Jack. "So tell me more about the zombies. Are they the slow and stupid kind or the really scary fast kind?"

"Well, all Sam and I have seen are slow and stupid, but Jumma was going on about zombies that sprinted before they got her." All of Molly's good humor died and she brushed her black hair out of her face nervously. "Do you think maybe she was on to something?"

"Maybe it's part of the shake up," Sam added, looking thoughtful. "It'd be way more exciting if you had to really run, instead of just walking away because they're so slow. Up to now, they're really only dangerous in mobs."

Rose frowned. "So we've maybe got both kinds. Okay, do we have weapons?"

Sam and Molly looked at each other for a moment, then shook their heads.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Rose? Jack?" The Doctor looked around hopefully for his companions. He had been counting on finding them quickly after he had been teleported out of the Big Brother house. But as he took in his surroundings, he had to concede that they were nowhere to be seen.

He wasn't even sure where he was, in fact. If he had to guess, he would say it was a fairly generic Twenty First Century American-looking city, but he'd never seen one so shoddily constructed. Even the Big Brother house had been built of sterner stuff than this place seemed to be.

"What is this? Some kind of low budget film?" He turned in a circle, looking for any other people or signs of life. "Hello?"

There was a snarl from behind him, and a raspy, gurgling sound. Then he was slammed to the ground by another body flying into his.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

**Day 2**

"Look, I know you mean well, but you're not exactly a lot of help if you're not going to find weapons or food or watch for zombies." Rose frowned at Sam and Molly with irritation. "Either do some work or go find someone else to join your team."

"But you're the only one we've seen alive in days!" Sam protested. 

"And you really seem to know what you're doing," Molly added. 

"You lot seem to have done well enough before I came along." The blond opened a cupboard and began searching through it, looking for anything they could use. 

"Not really," the dark haired woman admitted. "There were six of us until three days ago and then a mob took three of us. And then they got Jumma the day before yesterday. She was getting the food, so we haven't eaten since then either."

"Oh that's bloody fantastic," Rose muttered to herself, hiding her words in a slam of the cupboard doors. "Fine, okay. Sam, you go stand guard by the door we broke open getting in here. Scream like a you're in a horror movie if you see any zombies. Molly, you go look upstairs and see if they hid anything we can use as a weapon up there. Golf clubs, cricket bats, guns, whatever."

"What about you?" The dark haired man asked.

"I'm going to find something to eat." Rose opened another cupboard. "Then we go find someplace we can defend with just the three of us."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Oh, good dog!" The Doctor smiled brightly at the animal who had rescued him from the--he hesitated to use the term, because people just didn't get back up without help once they were dead--zombie's attack. The dog barked happily and dropped the turnip he had dug up at the Time Lord's feet. The Doctor bent down and scratched his new companion between the ears in praise. "Good boy, Zeus. Let's see what else we can find in this garden and then we'll make some dinner."

The dog barked again and returned to digging in the overgrown garden.

"Good dog," he repeated again, looking around to make sure they were still safe before joining in the task. 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Come on, keep up." Jack jogged down the road, his fellow game participant following several feet behind. "We've got to find better shelter than that huge hotel you were using. Once we've done that, we can scavenge food and look for my friends."

"How do you know they're here?" The dark skinned man asked. "I have seen a single child taken by the game station without her parents."

"Look, Mafuz, I just know. I saw them teleported out at the same time I was."

"They could be in a different game."

"I was in a different game before coming here and I'm pretty sure I got sent here as punishment for breaking the hostesses." The captain turned back to check on the other man. "So if I'm here, they probably are too. Because I know there's no way the Doctor would just let himself be stuck inside some reality TV show."

"Perhaps your Doctor is already dead." Mafuz was starting to sound winded.

"Not likely. Now hurry up; I think that little white church looks defensible."

The two men continued on in silence.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I found a baseball bat, a pistol and a dead baby," Molly said when she came back.

"Great," Rose replied. "Can you shoot a pistol?"

"No. I mean, yes, but don't you even care?"

"Course I care, but we can't do anything for it and the baby isn't going to help keep us alive." The blond looked away from the food she was stuffing into a backpack she'd found in the coat closet. "Now,can you really shoot or were you just saying?"

"My granddad taught me when I was little. He said that i never knew when I'd need it, but I don't think he had any idea it would be like this." The dark haired woman handed over the baseball bat. "I can't believe what they did to that baby. It was just--"

"You have to stop," Rose interrupted. "You can freak out about it after we get out of here."

For the first time since they met, Molly looked truly afraid. "You promise we'll get out?"

"I promise," the Doctor's companion said. "We are all getting out of this alive."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The Doctor stared at the small playhouse his current companion had led him too. It was tiny, just barely big enough for the two of them, but it was low to the ground and likely to be outside any zombie's visual range--assuming they could even still use their eyes. It would also shield them if the show director decided to add rain, and the size would help hold their body heat if it got too cold.

A simple visual check through a window also revealed the small structure to be completely free of undead. It was probably the most defensible shelter they would find, unless they managed to fine Rose and Jack and secure someplace bigger.

"Tomorrow, we find something a little bigger. This is not the best place for someone tall to sleep." The Doctor couched down and squeezed himself inside the playhouse's small door. "But it'll do for the couple hours I need."

The dog whimpered.

"It'll be fine, Zeus. We'll stay here, nap til dawn and then get back to looking for Rose." The Time Lord beckoned the dog in, then pulled the door closed. "You remember what she smells like?"

Zeus yipped once, clearly offended.

"Sorry. I'm used to traveling with Humans. You know what their sense memory is like."

The canine whined in response, though he sounded less upset this time. Then he curled up next to the Doctor and made himself comfortable. The Time Lord sighed and did his best to do the same.

It was going to be a long wait until dawn.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 4_

"How many is that now?" Jack asked as Mafuz shot through yet another zombie's head.

"Fifteen today," the dark skinned man replied. "We're attracting more of them."

"I don't think it's us, exactly." The captain stared out the window with a frown. "I think it's the piles of their dead friends. They didn't smell until we started killing them."

"You think they're smart enough to figure out that a mass of corpses means living humans?" Mafuze gave him a disbelieving look.

"I think it might be an instinct. Or whatever passes for instincts, with these things. It would explain the lack of smell, despite the decay." The former time agent shrugged. "Right now, I'm willing to entertain just about any theory for how they keep finding us."

"Do you think they're smart enough to open the doors?"

Jack paused. "I don't know. But I guess we need to build a better barricade, just in case."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Zeus stopped walking and barked happily.

"What?" The Doctor stopped as well, looking down at his four-legged companion in surprise.

The dog gave him a reproachful look and barked again.

"Look, I'm sorry my dog is a bit rusty. It's not like I've needed to use it in a few centuries." He frowned and crossed his arms. "My last dog was a robot who spoke perfectly good English, and a lot of other languages."

Zeus huffed and turned away. He yipped a few times as he walked away, clearly annoyed with the Time Lord.

"Of course I still want to find my companions! No need to be so snippy about it."

The dog barked again and trotted down the road. The Doctor followed, hoping Zeus was right about how fresh the trail was and how close they were to Jack. 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I'm hungry," Sam whined for the dozenth time. "When are we going to stop for food? I saw a market about a block back."

"If you hadn't eaten breakfast last night for your midnight snack, none of us would be hungry," Molly snapped. "So shut it and keep walking."

"We'll stop when we find someplace that hasn't got zombies locked in the loo or planning ambushes through the windows," Rose said. "And don't think I won't nail the windows closed and sleep with the food to keep you from being stupid again. I'm not starving or getting eaten before I get back to the Doctor."

"Sure, blame me for everything."

"Shut up, Sam!"

Rose sighed and kept walking. She wasn't sure she could take twenty six more days of these two. Hopefully, they'd be back with the Doctor long before she had to find out.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 5_

Zeus stopped walking and growled warningly just as a gentle breeze blew the stench into their faces. The Doctor stopped as well, wrinkling his nose and frowning.

"What is that? It smells worse than a Sontaran cloning vat."

The dog's warning growl changed pitch.

"Dead zombies? That's a bit redundant, don't you think?" The Doctor turned and surveyed the street, looking for signs of anything out of the ordinary. Or anything that could be considered out of the ordinary, on the set of a zombie reality show. "Can you smell anything else over that stench?"

Zeus replied with a few barks.

"Humans and gunpowder. For once, I like the sound of that combination." The Time Lord started walking again. "Come on. Let's see if they have a decent shelter."

Zeus yipped and followed.

"Or it could be Jack, you're right. We can absolutely count on him to be surrounded by dead zombies."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"There is a man outside, examining the zombies we've shot," Mafuz said.

"What?" Jack looked up from the soup he was preparing on the camp stove the other man had scavenged from the ruins of a nearby discount store. 

"A man and a dog," the dark skinned man confirmed. "They seem to be looking for something specific, but I do not know what."

"That sounds like the Doctor." The former time agent grinned and stood up. "Keep an eye on the soup. It's the last of our supplies for a while. I'll go find out who it is and if he's safe."

Mafuz nodded and tossed the pistol they were sharing to him. "Perhaps you should forage as well."

"You got it. As long as nothing tries to eat me, anyway."

"Do _not_ get bitten," the older man admonished.

"You''ll shoot me before you try to save me, I know." Jack grinned again. "It'll be okay. I won't even go out if it's not him."

"Good." Mafuz turned his attention to the soup and Jack took the action as a dismissal. The other man would be focused on finding ways to stretch their supplies for three, anyway, and would ignore him if he stayed.

Also, the Doctor was more important right now. Assuming it _was_ the Doctor.

The former time agent made his way to the window where Mafuz usually stood his watch. There were others, and they had seen zombies approach from all of them, but the dark skinned man preferred the street view. Jack didn't argue despite wishing they had better coverage, because it really wasn't worth the fight. They would either live or die, and Mafuz's window preference wouldn't really matter much if the church was overrun.

He opened the shutter and peered through the window, looking for moving zombies before fixing his gaze on the man in the black jacket. The Doctor was methodical, checking each corpse--for what, Jack had no idea--thoroughly with physical senses and sonic screwdriver before moving on to the next. The Time Lord was clearly trying to puzzle out the secret of the undead masses, and Jack was content with watching the Doctor's back while he worked, now that he knew the other man was safe.

After several minutes, the Doctor finally looked up from the corpses. He fixed his gaze squarely on the captain's window and frowned. "So tell me, Captain, are you just going to stand there and watch while I do all the work?"

Jack laughed. "You seem to have it under control!"

"Oh yes, because zombies are completely controllable. Didn't they teach you anything at the Time Agency?" The Time Lord's quip lacked most of his usual playful tone. "Are you coming down or not?"

"On my way," the captain replied. He pulled the shutter closed as he turned away, then walked to the door. He checked the number of bullets in the pistol before opening the door.

There were only five. Enough to take down a stray or two, but not enough to even dent a mob. Jack didn't like what that said about the status of their supplies.

With a sigh, he opened the door and headed out into the faked sunlight. The Doctor could help forage, once he was done studying corpses.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Oh, you have got to be kidding!" Sam kicked a piece of broken concrete toward the door of the pharmacy.

The zombies locked inside milled aimlessly back and forth across the debris-strewn floor. None of them seemed to notice the humans outside.

"Guess we should have gone back to the grocery store," Molly said softly.

"Guess so," Rose agreed. "No sense in that now, though. That's kilometers back. We'll just find something else."

"Find it where? Where are we even going?!" Sam picked up another chunk of loose concrete and hurled it toward the blond. The companion ducked and the concrete clattered into the street. "You don't know any more than we do! You're just wandering around trying to find some stupid doctor who's probably already been mobbed!"

"It's better than sitting around in a house with no doors waiting to get mobbed!" Rose snapped back. "And I don't see you coming up with any better plans! In fact, I don't see you coming up with anything at all."

"At least I'm smart enough to have known to go back for food!"

"Guys, stop." Molly stepped between the arguing pair and pointed toward the pharmacy. "Look!"

Sam and Rose turned to look at where she was pointing. The young man went pale beneath the angry flush on his cheeks. The Doctor's companion took a step back and raised her baseball bat.

The zombie on the opposite side of the pharmacy's glass door watched them, head tilted to one side almost as if it were studying them.

"We should go," Rose said. "Right now."

"Like you would know," Sam sniped. His fearful step back closer to the women took all the heat out of his words. "What's it going to do from behind glass, anyway?"

"I think Rose is right." Molly drew the pistol with one hand and wrapped the other around Sam's elbow. She pulled him back another step, coming close enough to the other woman that Rose was forced to step back as well. "We should get out of here."

The zombie straightened its head as the humans moved, watching them almost intelligently. Then, it raised its hands and slammed them into the door. The noise attracted the attention of the other zombies shuffling through the room and, like pack animals, they began to gather behind the smarter zombie at the door. The smart zombie slmmed its hands into the door again.

"Run!" Rose shouted, grabbing the back of Molly's shirt and tugging to get her moving. "Get out of here!"

The smart zombie slammed its hands against the door a third time and the dark haired woman shrieked as the glass cracked.

"Run!" The blond woman shouted again. 

Molly screamed again and raised the pistol as the zombie slammed the glass a final time and it shattered. She fired off two shots, hitting the smart zombie in the chest, before turning and runnining away. Rose followed, glancing over her shoulder to see where Sam was.

Her eyes went wide as she saw him trip on the piece of concrete he had thrown at her. The young man fell in a heap on the pavement and looked back up at her in horror. “Help me!”

The Doctor’s companion turned back, not sure what she could do but unwilling to just let him die. “Come on, get up!”

The smart zombie sprinted out of the pharmacy, heading straight for the prone man. The other zombies followed at a slower pace.

“Rose!” Sam choked out her name as he struggled to get back up. Panic made him clumsy and he tripped over his own feet before he managed to stand.

The smart zombie grabbed him and pulled the terrified man backward. Sam screamed as it bit into his shoulder.

Rose chocked down a sob and turned away before the zombies could decide that she would be a good second course. Once she and Molly were safe, she could break down about how terribly she had failed him.

Sam’s screams faded as she ran, degenerating into gurgling rasps and, finally, silence.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 8_

"You're sure there's no sign of her?" Jack asked.

Zeus whimpered and looked at the captain sadly.

"He says no," the Doctor supplied. "But the dead zombies have been making it difficult for him to smell things correctly."

"Yeah, those." The human dropped down onto a pew and sighed. “Even if she was around here, those probably wouldn’t make her feel particually safe.”

“We will find her, Jack.” The Time Lord’s face was serious. “Rose is here somewhere and we _will_ find her.”

“What if she’s not?” Jack let himself voice the fear that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel until now. “What if she’s trapped in some other game or worse?”

“Then we find her. Rose is still out there and we will find her.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Rose, the water is gone."

The Doctor's companion looked up at Molly through eyes that were red from crying and lack of sleep. "What do you mean the water's gone?"

"I tried all the taps and looked for bottles, too. The taps stopped working about an hour ago." The dark haired woman sat down next to the blond. "The loo isn't working either."

"If the Doctor were here, he'd fix it."

"What, the plumbing? Like a doctor would waste his time on that."

"What are you gonna do, Molly?" Rose turned away, starting out the window.

" _We_ are going to get out of here and get some more supplies." Molly nudged her with a shoulder. "And you're going to stop blaming yourself because they got Sam. If it hadn't been for you, we both would have died days ago."

"If he hadn't been fighting with me, he wouldn't be dead now."

"Maybe. But if not for you, we wouldn't have made it as far as we did." The dark haired woman stood back up and grabbed Rose's arm. "So stop beating yourself up and come on. We've got your doctor to find, yeah?"

"Yeah." The blond let the other woman tug her to her feet. "Thanks, Molly."

"Just returning the favor."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 10_

"Jack!" The Doctor looked up with a grin as Zeus barked happily. "He says Rose was here, not more than an hour ago!"

"What?!" Jack rushed around the store shelf dividing them, several tins of food held in one arm. "She was here? Does he know where she went? Sorry, do you know which way she went, Zeus?"

The dog barked happily and turned, pointing his nose toward the door.

"Well, let's go!" The captain dropped the cans next to the supply bag they had brought. 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The faux sunlight had seemed especially nice after they left the grocery store, so Rose and Molly decided to take a risk and eat out in the open for a change. They would be able to see any oncoming zombies or any other threats, and wouldn't be cooped up like mice hiding from a cat. There was even a convenient park on the next block, complete with an old wood table and benches.

A breeze can up while they ate their tinned vegatables. Molly smiled a little as it cooled the sweat gathered on her face and neck. Rose perked up as she heard voices.

"Molly, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The dark haired woman stopped chewing her food and listened. "Is that someone calling your name?"

"Yes!" Rose jumped up from her bench and ran toward the sound. "Doctor! Doctor, I'm here!"

Nearby, she heard a dog's excited barking and excited shouting from two familiar voices.

"Doctor! Jack! I'm here!" Tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

"Rose, stay put! I'm coming!"

Normally, she would disobey that sort of order from the Doctor, but this time nothing sounded like a better plan.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Rose!" Jack spotted her first and sprinted ahead of the Doctor to meet her. She darted away from the dark haired girl standing at her side and rushed to meet him. The captain swept her up with a delighted laugh and kissed her soundly before hugging her tightly to his chest. "I thought we'd lost you for good this time."

"Not even zombies could keep me away," Rose replied, hugging him just as tightly.

"Oy! Save some of that for me!" 

The blond woman pulled back enough to look up at the Doctor, who was grinning back at her. Beside him, a reddish-brown dog wagged its tail happily. The dog barked as he held out his arms to her.

"Doctor." Rose smiled and extracted herself from Jack's arms. She moved over to the Time Lord and, with a sob of relief, fell into his arms.

"What have I told you about wandering off?" The Doctor asked softly, relief clear in his tone.

The blond woman laughed. "Oh, I think it was you lot who went wandering off this time. And I suppose the dog followed you home, too."

"Rescued me from a zombie actually. Hard to say no to a dog after something like that." The dog barked at the Doctor's statement, a single short _woof_ that might have been agreement. "He's called Zeus, by the way. Who's your new friend?"

Rose turned, and saw that Molly had moved up closer to their group. "She's Molly. Molly, this is the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness. And Zeus the dog."

"Hello." Molly waved a few fingers shyly at them, unlike her usual outgoing personality. "Looks like you really found them."

"I always knew I would." The blond woman slipped out of the Time Lord's embrace and moved to her companion's side. Rose took Molly's hands and squeezed them. "And now that we're with him, he'll figure things out and we'll get out of here."

"All of us?" The dark haired woman sounded uncertain.

"All of us." The Doctor's voice was firm as he broke into the women's conversation. "All of us, including you and Jack's friend and anyone else left alive in this place. And then I will find whoever is behind this and put an end to it. _No one else_ is dying for their entertainment."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 15_

"Anything yet?" Rose handed a bag of crisps to Mafuz as he stared out the window.

"Nothing except for a zombie." The dark skinned man took the crisps with a nod of thanks. "The Doctor and Molly said they would return before the sun fell below the mirrored skyscraper. There is still time."

"Yeah. I just worry, is all."

"They will be well. Zeus' fine sense of smell will detect the zombies long before there is any danger to them. And should he fail to do so, the girl is an excellent marksman."

"Yeah, but what about us?" Rose's question hung heavy in the air.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"So tell me, Molly. Why did you volunteer to come along?" The Doctor ran his hands along the walls of the empty office, searching for anything out of the ordinary. A single empty office had been strange enough after all the detail put into this fake city; there had to be more to it.

The young woman shrugged as she took up a guard position at the door. "Just wanted to get out for a bit. The church isn't blocking the smell of the dead zombies much anymore."

"That's true enough, but it hasn't bothered you much before." 

Molly shrugged again. "I wanted Jack and Rose to have some time together, without me along as third wheel."

"You thought they...?"

The dark haired woman blushed and nodded.

"Oh not hardly." The Doctor's fingers caught on a loose bit of sheetrock--who even still built with sheetrock, anyway?--and he pulled it away to reveal a very simple two button control panel. "Jack and Rose are not together."

"If they're not together," Molly replied, "Then I'm not Irish. I've _seen_ the way he touches her."

"The good captain has no concept of personal space. He's like that with everyone he's known more than a week." The Time Lord pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and checked the settings. Then he ran it over the control panel until the button on the left lit up in the center with a soft blue light. "Ah ha!"

"What did you find?" Molly looked away from the door to the Doctor.

The Doctor changed the setting on his sonic screwdriver and ran it over the control panel again. A few seconds later, a large section of the wall slid away to reveal a large, silver room. "I found the teleport device that brought us here. And with a few small adjustments, it will be the teleport device that gets us out, too."

Zeus began barking madly from the hallway.

"Sounds great," Molly told him. "But I think we have company to deal with first."

"Zombies. Always ruining a perfectly good moment." The Time Lord pressed the glowing button and gestured the human toward the silver room. "Come on. I've set it for the street level so that we can go back and get the others."

"Zeus, come on!" The dog stopped barking at her call and they could, faintly, hear him running down the hall. Molly didn't hesitate any longer before dashing across the office and stepping into the teleport device. "It's safe right?"

"Completely." The Doctor assured her. "You might be a bit dizzy afterward, but there's no lasting effects." 

Zeus barrelled through the door, one of the fast zombies following close behind. Molly swore and raised the pistol. She fired as Zeus leaped into the teleport device with her. The zombie lurched back as the bullet caught it in the throat. The Doctor hit the activation button and jumped into the teleport device.

The zombie lurched forward again as bright light began to fill the teleport device. It reached out and grabbed the Doctor's trailing wrist, pulling the limb toward its mouth. The Doctor screamed as the zombie bit down. Molly fired the pistol again, hitting the monster in the head this time.

The teleport device activated and deposited them on the street.

"Oh God," the human gasped, looking at the bleeding wound on the Doctor's arm. "Now what do we do?"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 17_

Mafuz took the rifle and a portion of their food supplies and left the church when it became evident that Rose and Jack would not allow him to shoot the Doctor. He didn't tell them where he was going, but he made sure to tell Molly why he was leaving.

Molly refused to go. Jack and Rose's word that he wasn't human was enough for her to trust that he wouldn't react to the bite the same way.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 21_

"He's getting worse."

Molly took Rose's hand and squeezed it comfortingly at Jack's pronouncement. Zeus whimpered sadly.

"We were wrong, weren't we?" Rose asked. 

"Yeah, it looks like." The captain moved to the blond woman's side and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Rose. I'm so sorry."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 23_

Molly screamed as the Doctor staggered into the kitchen. He moved with the same lurching stride as the other undead and his skin had a grey pallor. What frightened her was how bright and clear his eyes were.

The Doctor's body might have died, but his mind was still intact.

"Molly..." the zombie Doctor fixed that too intelligent gaze on her. "Shoot..."

"My God, you're talking!"

"Shoot... me..." He took an unsteady step toward her.

"I can't! I don't have the pistol!" Molly stepped backward, feeling behind her for the doorknob as she moved. Intelligent or not, he was still a zombie now.

"I'm... sorry... Molly. So... sorry..."

Molly had just enough time to scream again as the Doctor lunged.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 26_

The golden Dalek rolled down the street, observing the shambling masses through its eyestalk. It allowed itself a feeling of triumph when it saw the zombie in the black jacket leading its hoarde--only four but some residual instinct kept them together even into undeath--down the street after the last ot the human survivors.

Per its orders from the Emperor, the Dalek opened a communication channel. _"The Doctor is exterminated._

 _"Excellent. Return to the command post and report your findings."_ The Emperor sounded as triumphant as the Dalek felt. 

_"As you command, Lord Emperor."_ The Dalek watched the zombie Doctor long enough to see it take down its prey. Then it activated its personal teleport device and returned to the ship.

It did not see the four sets of eyes turned up from their prey and observing his departure.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Day 30_

The zombie Doctor led his companions into the empty office and gestured them toward the teleport device. The other zombies followed his direction, stepping into the silver box without hesitation. 

"Hungry..." Rose swayed back and forth from foot to foot, clearly anxious.

"Soon..." the Doctor assured her, pressing the activation button. "Daleks... then... food..."

Zeus the dog watched from the doorway as his friends teleported away without him.


End file.
